2.6 year old and obsession with 'treasures'?

[LittleOneMum]

Can someone tell me if this is normal or not? PFB of course...

DS is 2.6. Every day, he adopts a new 'treasure'. This can be anything from a roll of sellotape to a tiny toy, to once the barbecue tongs . Actually, sometimes he readopts something, so he decides that he actually wants something from a few days ago. He insists on carrying the treasure around with him all day (I've just about got the message across that it needs to stay in the house when we got out, for fear of losing it) and then he needs to take it to bed and sleep with it. Which is all fine (except for days when we can't find the particular treasure from 3 days ago...).

I'm now starting to worry though because during the last few nights he has woken up crying for whatever it is (and has a damn good memory for whatever it is that night) which means going in and finding it - it usually has fallen through the bars of the cot and giving it back to him and then he promptly falls asleep again. not worried about lack of sleep - more worried about whether we are being too indulgent/setting up a dependency thing here. he does have a favourite cuddly toy but he lives in the cot and doesn't come out - and he never asks for that to come out.

Would be VERY grateful for your thoughts and for anyone who wants to share that their 2 year old has equally odd quirks...

tis totally normal and just a phase. repeat the mantra its just a phase :-)

ds moved on from this and now comes home from preschool with treasure that he's found (washers and the like). everyday a bit more of our gravel drive ends up in the house as apparently they are crystals

LOL. I mean, I really sympathise with you, because my dd is exactly like this! I don't know if it is normal or not, but it is normal for her, and we've got used to it, (although it is a relief to hear of others with these obsessions). She is now 3 years 6 months now, and is starting to get a little less obsessive, although she still likes to take random things with her out and about, rather than one favourite.

When she was around 18 months or so (I forget now - but this obsession lasted a long time) she used to take a foot-long batmobile to bed with her, and also out in her push-chair - I found it unbearable at the time as it was such a large, un-cuddly toy, and she insisted holding it whilst being put to bed. She doesn't really like cuddly things much, can't stand dollies and things which resemble humans too accurately (she likes Morph-type things though). She had a very good pincer grip from a young age, and would love to hold small, hard objects, and stopped mouthing things very early.

I sort of missed the batmobile when she graduated to a single tiny block of lego, either white or yellow which she would hold in her hand as a bed-time toy, and would get very upset if she lost it at night. Since then, it's the same as your ds, LittleOneMum - a succession of usually tiny, random objects which need to be taken to bed, and heaven forbid if she left the house without them or lost them at night.

However, I think she started to get better with the obsessions a couple of months ago though. For instance, she has improved with her choice of bed-time toy, now that she can understand better. She takes her beaker to bed with her and is allowed to select one bed-time toy - we tell her if it is suitable or unsuitable as a bed-time toy (our decision is accepted by her, thank the lord). For a laugh the other day, my dh suggested that she took a small weeble-sized dolly to bed, she said "no" straight away, but then he offered a long flat strip of lego, she accepted immediately. She doesn't now get upset if she loses the toy at night.

I, too, am interested hear of others who have had quirky toddlers like this, and what they are like as older children.

Absolutely normal!! and yes they grow out of it!! My DS had a horse obsession and used to carry a small plastic horse around. The favourite one varied over time but he could recognise them in the dark!! We lost one or two along the way and years later he talked about the day he lost his black horse!! Friends / family often gave him horses saying "we know you like horses" while I was thinking, one more xxxxing horse for me to keep track of!! We have a time span of maybe 6 months where in every photo he was carrying one. He learned to climb, ride on toys etc all with one hand holding a horse!! He's a normal functioning little boy and while he likes to know where his things are and has favourite teddies, it's no longer an obsession and missing toys can be dealt with rationally!! It will be a good story to look back on - remember the quirky treasures!!

...and though my own dd, 2.4, has treasures during the day but doesn't take them to bed, I remember how my then toddler god-daughter had a year-long obsession with filthy stones from the garden that she would put - unwashed - into a very angular tin and hug in bed. Utterly bizarre, but she's now a very together 17-year-old!

Oh, thank you everyone - it is lovely knowing that this is completely normal. It's probably a sign of high intelligence or something and I'm sure we will miss it before long...
Right, I'd better go off and find that one tiny battery from the back of the TV remote that I've now lost...

xx